When you look at the 3rd down defense for the 2010 Patriots it was atrocious. Just five times were they better than average (40%) and seven times were they below unacceptable (50%). They finished the year with a dreadful 47% of third down conversions allowed, bad enough for last in the NFL.
It was an area that we discussed for much of last off-season, and a factor in the “we need a pass rusher” craze. Despite all the criticism the 2011 Pats defense has taken they’ve actually been improved on third down.
Let’s look at their 3rd down percentages for the first half of the season:
- Miami: 2/14: 14%
- San Diego: 10/12: 83%
- Buffalo: 4/11 = 36%
- Oakland: 8/13 = 61%
- Jets: 3/11 = 27%
- Dallas: 4/12 = 33%
- Pittsburgh: 10/16 = 62%
- Giants: 4/14 = 28%
Through eight games the Pats have already been under 40% as many times as they were in 2010. And while they have three performances of over 50% they are 2-1 in those games.
The 2010 were also elite on third down (under 30%) just once all season, while the 2011 Pats have already topped that mark three times in the first half of the season.
You can conjure up a lot of negative stats about the 2011 Pats defense, but the improvements on third down are not debatable. They still may be 28th (44%) in the NFL on 3rd down, but I expect them to be far closer to the top of the NFL by the end of the end of the season, especially when you look at the numbers in three of the last four games.
